Mother Tongue

Mother TongueThe essay I want to write on is Mother Tongue, which is written by Amy Tan. This article recalls me some adversities when the first few days I came to the United States. Amy is an ethnic Chinese writer who was born and living in United States. She was faced with language problem during her life. In this essay, Amy Tan talks about her mother’s broken grammar and the dialogue in English without grammar between her mother and her. But when Amy talks with other people, gives a speech, or writing, she will had perfect spoken English. Therefore, that is why she wrote this essay, I think I can understand Tan's experiences very well in several ways because I have experienced much of which she write about. At the beginning of this essay by saying “I am a writer. And by definition, I am someone who has always loved language. I am fascinated by language in daily life. I spend a great deal of time thinking about the power of language— the way it can evoke an emotion, a visual image, a complex idea, or a simple truth. Language is the tool of my trade. And I use them all — all the Englishes I grew up with.” Obviously, language is very important in our daily life, especially when you are in a foreigner country. I still remember that our family first trip abroad and have a short traveling. At that time, I could only speak a few English in daily conversation, just like hello, how are you, thank you, and so on. These does worked, but not very. It was so unbelievable to me. From then on, I realized that there are many different languages in our world, and it really did work. It is no doubt that language would be very useful to connect individuals into a community. However language is a double-edged sword, it also has a power that comes with a people alienated from the community. Obviously, Tan’s mother and I belong to the latter. I have the similar experience with this essay very much, because I can not control English skills very well, neither. Speaking is a huge...

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Between 40 and 49 A.D. Jesus’ brother James wrote the book of James which is believed to be one of the first if not the very first book in the New Testament to be written. James wrote the book to address the twelve scattered Jewish tribes and “to encourage them to continue to grow in the new Christian faith (got questions.org)”. There is a particular form or genre to this book it is called “encyclical or circular letter” (Just). The book of James is written with a very specific theme in mind and that is “not merely faith and works, but faith that works” (Nelson, p.1936). Having faith in God is great but believing that with faith come miraculous things is just amazing. The book of James is broken down into several lessons one of which is controlling the tongue which we find in James 3:1-12.
There are two very important words in the first twelve verses of the third chapter of James; one of which is the word tongue. This word can bring up several different ideas in a person’s mind depending on the context in which it is used. Webster’s dictionary defines tongue as a “muscular organ attached to the floor of the mouth, used in tasting, chewing, and speaking” and according to Definitions. Net it is a human written or spoken language used by a community; a manner of speaking....

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When words are many, sin is not absent, but he who holds his tongue is wise.
– Proverbs 10:19
Tongue (your words):
1) Is a dangerous and powerful tool
Encourage:
Proverbs 15:23
…How good is a timely word!
Ephesians 4:29
Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.
Destroy:
Proverbs 12:18
The words of the reckless pierce like swords, but the tongue of the wise brings healing.
Leave someone scared forever:
Proverbs 18:21
The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit.
2) Can get you to start trouble, get you in trouble, or keep you from it
Start trouble:
Proverbs 15:1
A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.
Getting into trouble:
Proverbs 26:17
Like one who grabs a stray dog by the ears is someone who rushes into a quarrel not their own.
Keep away from/Stop trouble:
Proverbs 26:20
Without wood a fire goes out;
without gossip a quarrel dies down.
Proverbs 10:19
Sin is not ended by multiplying words,
but the prudent hold their tongues.
Proverbs 21:23
He who guards his mouth and his tongue
keeps himself from calamity.
Proverbs 17:14
Starting a quarrel is like breaching a dam;
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As a fool would carelessly play and prank with a loaded gun, so many Christians today do likewise with their deadly tongue. If only we could fully realize the untold damage that we are doing to the body of Christ! If only we could see the full effect of the words we use!
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The Lying Tongue
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Professor: Lucero
Date: 10/17/2014
MotherTongue
For many people, language is not recognized as a form of communication, but as a barrier that limit them to connect with the world. This is a very common problem for people who immigrated to United State from other countries and who grew up under nonnative English-speaking family as a first-generation Asian American. In the article “MotherTongue” by Amy Tan, she tells her personal story of how she overcomes her own language obstacles. After I read this article, I have different feeling and opinions on the languages that I am speaking. I used to think that language is just a tool or form of communication that allow me to communicate with other people. Personally, I speak three languages and truly I am not an expert speaker of these languages. Even though I have experienced that other people talk impatiently or meanly because I cannot communicate well with them. But, I never thought that people really do discriminate and took advantage of me. It is just like how Amy and her mother experience while they are using “Broken English” and “Standard English” to speak with others. After reading the article, I am totally agree on her points because I experienced the situation that Amy discuss in the article. Just like Asian American family, we spoke “Broken English” in our family. I also experienced that people treated differently to me and my...

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